As long as it is assumed that humanization is a fundamental aspect regarding the health policies it is demanding that its concept be revised and criticized so changes in the models of assistance and management can be performed. Such urge is presented not only because the concept has been trivialized, but also by the fragmentation of the practices connected to different programs of humanization of the health system. It is the same problem in a double inscription theoretical/practical, so the need to face the task of redefining the concept of humanization as well as the construction of public and transversal policies of humanization of/and in the health system. This second aspect points out to the need of a debate on the public dimension of the health policies and its relation with the Government. This paper intents, supported by Foucault’s analysis of power, to exam the concept of humanization in a more wide scenario showing the relationship of the Government with the public policies as concrete experiences, assuring that there is no way of guaranteeing a National Policy of Humanization of Health without confronting with the concept of humanism in the contemporary world. In the 20th Century, the idea was strongly stressed by an anti-humanistic critic and the task we face now is not easy and has to be carried out so we can redirect ourselves.
Public policies; Humanization; Single Health System; Anti-humanism